


New York Has Some Characters

by thegrendel



Category: Nofandom, Original Story
Genre: F/M, Loneliness, Loss of Virginity, New York City, Older Woman/Younger Man, city life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 03:14:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14946549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegrendel/pseuds/thegrendel
Summary: Life in the Big Town maybe isn't what it's cracked up to be. But, there are compensations.





	New York Has Some Characters

Nobody who has any choice in the matter stays in New York City in the  
sticky July heat. Jack didn't have a choice. It was his second month on  
the job and he wouldn't be eligible for vacation for a good while.

The apartment had its advantages, but amenities weren't among them. "Air  
conditioning? Forget it. With all the old wiring in this building, it'd  
prolly start half a dozen fires."

"But the nights are too damn hot for sleeping, even with all the windows  
wide open and three box fans running full tilt."

"You'll get used to it."

Jack lay on an old mattress on the tarpaper roof -- under the stars,  
and with the cool night breeze. There were footsteps behind him.

_"What? Who is it?"_

"Not to worry, young fellow. I am not going to rape you. I heard noises  
up here and wanted to make certain everything was in order." The voice  
had a slight, lilting accent. Swedish?

It was a woman, a gray-haired woman. She must have been in her fifties,  
at least. She squatted down at his side.

"Lived in this neighborhood since I was a girl. Never thought I would  
see unrenovated tenement apartments rent for such ridiculous money.  
It is crazy."

"Have I seen you before, lady? I moved into 21A last week and I hardly  
know anyone here."

"Just down the hall from you. 29B. You know, had I children, they would  
all be older than you now."

Her hand was resting on his thigh. They sat in silence. The moon had risen.

"Sometimes I wish I could step off the edge over there and just float like  
a leaf to the bottom."

"A poetic image, lady."

She looked down into his eyes and smiled sadly. "It is much too late  
for poetry."

She stood up and walked away. At the parapet, a low ceramic tile-topped  
brick wall circling the edge of the roof, she stopped. "It has been a  
long time since I have had a man," she said.

He looked up. She was bending forward over the top of the parapet. The  
hem of her skirt was flipped up over her waist in back. Her plump bare  
buttocks were gleaming in the moonlight.

"You do not have to do this," she said.

She was warm and moist inside. He held on to her hips and moved forward  
and back in a slow, measured rhythm. She reached backward to grab his  
hand and pulled it around her breasts. They were soft and yielding. When  
he had finished, she manipulated herself until her eyes clenched shut  
and she gasped.

"You were a virgin, correct?"

"How did you know?"

She smiled.

 

No one was answering in 29B. Jack had a bouquet of wildflowers clutched in  
one hand. Gray morning light was filtering through the dirty hall windows.

"What're you pounding on that door for?"

It was the building manager.

"I'd like to show my appreciation to the lady who lives there. She's been  
very helpful."

"You're joking. Nobody's lived in that apartment for months. Can't keep  
it rented, even with the housing shortage in this damn town. Tenants  
always move out after the first week or two. Claim the place is haunted."

"Haunted? What do you mean? And what about the lady I'm looking for? Gray  
hair, maybe 50, round face, full figure. Has kind of a foreign accent."

"You're pulling my leg, Jack. If you know about the woman, then you've  
already heard the story."

"Story? What story? I'm new here, remember?"

"All right, all right. I'll start from the beginning.

"Round about thirty years back, way before my time, there was this dame  
who lived right here, in 29B. Nice, respectable lady -- everybody thought  
she worked in an office uptown. Karina van der Hals, her name was. Came  
over as a girl with her parents from Holland.

"So she takes up with a boyfriend. Young kid, maybe half her age. They  
were going at it hot and heavy for a while, and the guy starts cheating  
on her with another woman. She freaks out and cuts his throad in a  
fit of jealousy. Then she ups and jumps off the roof, the roof of this  
here building.

"You see, Jack, she's kind of a legend around here. The Flying Dutchwoman  
they call her. Yeah, sure, flying -- then splat. Every once in a while  
somebody says they see her wandering these halls here. Or up on the roof.  
Or inside that damn apartment. Sure wish I could rent the place."

"But I saw her, I tell you. She was talking to me and -- "

"Better lay off whatever it is you're smoking, kid. Other guys seen  
her too. Only thing is, if they see too much of her, funny things start  
to happen. Like they end up doing away with themselves. Dead, with their  
throats slashed. Just like her boyfriend."

"Maybe you're right. Could have been a case of mistaken identity."

"New York has some characters, don't it? Say, what's that mark on your  
throat, Jack?"

"Must have cut myself shaving."


End file.
